p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The boy was slumped against a tree, smoke so thick you couldn't see his leg. His side was a mess, his arm broken, ankle twisted at an unnatural angle, eyes dull, defeated./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Those eyes focused as Levi neared, blurred, focused again. 'Mikasa…'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Levi stood over him, kicked him. 'No, just me. Unfortunately for you.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'Mikasa,' he croaked through parched lips. 'Is she alright?'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'Why wouldn't she be?' He scoffed. 'Oh. Was she saving you from your own mistakes? What did you do this time, brat? Is she bleeding out in the belly of a fucking titan for you?'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Eren waved a feeble hand, pushing words out like each one hurt. 'No, don't talk about my friends like that.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'I'll talk about your friends however I damn well want to,' he said. The titan-shifter was in no shape to shift and the battle was hardly started - but he would guard the boy and give him time to recover if that was what it took to get him back on the field. 'When will you be ready to go back on?'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The boy glared up at Levi, a sign of the old Eren coming back. 'Have you ever tried healing two broken ribs, an arm, an ankle and an infected leg, Captain? I've only been here for a few minutes. Give me another ten, then I should be ready.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'I'm too clean for some shitty infection.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'That makes no sense. I'll be back in titan form if you give me some room.' Eren hummed, fight filling back into his eyes. 'I can do that.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'That's the least I expect from you, brat. Now get back to your beauty sleep. We need you.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Eren closed his eyes, slumped over again, focused on that almost a compliment? 'Behind you,' he muttered, falling asleep to the shape of Levi flying up to meet the titan in mid-air./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Shooting the hook into the side of the titan's neck, he wasted no time. An arm moved to cut him down, he swung, wrapped the hook around its neck, emptied the tension, ran, carving a bloody score up its arm with the blades, reaching the neck, bringing the twin swords down with a crunch on the weak spot. The titan crumbled and he flew into the trees, alighting on the low branches as the titan struck the ground, sagging against a tree with a trunk as thick as a person that snapped from the impact./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The sound was fucking earsplitting, but Levi kept his head straight, flung himself to safety, ran and jumped and fell across fallen limbs and branches, came to a stop in Eren's tree. Eren twitched an arm, the only indication that he'd heard the collision./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Titans. Two more, approaching from the east. Lumbering footsteps shook the forest like earthquakes, pushing aside trees, trampling undergrowth, flattening anything in their lopsided path. Levi shot Eren a last glare. emDon't you fucking dare get yourself fucking killed/em./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"He swung through the forest, meeting the threat 100 meters away head on./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Literally./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The first titan, a nine-meter, didn't get to react as Levi launched a hook into its nose, slamming boots on its cheek, looking into its eyes. 'Hey, ugly,' he whispered into its ear. The titan lifted a clumsy hand to swat him. Levi pulled the hook out of the titan flesh and dropped, shooting to the second titan with a burst of ODM just as the hand connected with full force. The titan fell to its knees./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The second titan, a fucking emeighteen-meter/em - the biggest he'd seen all Expedition - didn't react to his fallen comrade, only kept running away at full speed, nimbler than any titan had the right to be. It's shaggy dark head broke the surface of the trees, poking above the canopy and into the sunlight. Levi wondered how it could even see where it was going with half its shitty forehead in the open air. It was fast, that was guaranteed, but not as fast as a 5'3 captain of the Survey Corps heavily decked with grappling hooks, gear and blades. Levi swung through the trees, launching and reeling and launching and reeling./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"em It's going after Eren./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"There was a rumble and a mushroom cloud of dust as the fallen titan who he had left behind him got to its feet, facing away from him. It would come after them, and if Eren was cornered by two titans in the state he was in, he'd stand no chance. Levi was ten meters away from it. Fifteen. With a curse, pulled a blade from the sheath - his only spare - and threw it. He hit the nape straight on. The titan crashed, dust flying up./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Gritting his teeth, Levi increased his speed, closing the distance between him slowly. Too slowly. Eren was only a fifty meters ahead. The ODM gear was too fast for the trees - he'd collide with a tree and be killed instantly at this speed./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emFucking THINK, Levi!/em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The trees were too thick for ODM gas. The dappled sunlight shone through thick clumps of leaves, splotches and blots of yellows, golds, greens like a painter's dish. The sunlight. The beautiful sunlight./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emSunlight,/em he thought wistfully. emI miss the sunlight/em./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"What the fuck was wrong with him? He had to focus. He had to go faster. Faster, or Eren was emdead/em. He would never make it -/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Unless -/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Unless he could get to open air. To emsunlight/em. If he took down the titan from above the forest, instead of the cluttered undergrowth, he could use his gear and move much faster, clearing the distance and reaching Eren more efficiently than he ever could on the ground. But he would need to go straight up. That would be the fastest path and if he used his momentum, he could aim for a 90 degree angle straight up - or close enough. These thoughts flashed through his head in less than a second./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Thirty meters left./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Before he could change his mind, he aimed the hook not forwards, but to the sides, both wires shooting to a tree to his left and right. The momentum jerked him to a stop, the impact knocking his breath out of his chest. He was tugged back violently, head slammed back, body instantly limp to absorb impact./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The titan vanished in the forest, the second delay enough for it to dart out of sight./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Just as he was about to forget the plan, release the hooks and follow the titan, the cords caught him and he buckled under the tension of strong cables. There was a split second to close his eyes, mouth and clamp a hand to the retract trigger. And then he was soaring through the green. This wasn't flying. This was getting shot through a canon, a vicious G-force pulling at hair, tearing at skin, clawing at clothes./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"There were fucking thorns. Thorns in these fucking trees. Stupid fucking thorns that hacked and chopped at him, leaves that clung to his hair, ripping out strands, shredding skin, branches like titans that scratched, bit, made him bleed. And all he could do was keep going, keep his hands close, his head closer, body straight like an arrow, keep moving, always moving, because if he didn't make it, if he fell -/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"If he fell, Eren was emdead./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"So he kept going, limbs locked in, eyes screwed shut and head pressed to his chest. Was he even going straight? God knew. Was he going sideways, was he off track, wrong way, too late, about to let yet another one of his fucking squad emdie?/em Uncharacteristic panic clouded his mind./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Because didn't his squad emdie/em for Eren? Wouldn't he let them down if he died too? He'd gone through so much fucking pain for this brat, was the brat going to get himself killed? Was he even going up? Was he even going straight? And even if he wasn't, did he have any choice? He couldn't stop moving if he wanted to - couldn't stop the sticks, the leaves, the thorns, the knives./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"And then he started falling./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Falling down./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"His eyes flew open at the sudden movement, clear blue sky filling his vision. The clear blue sky, sunlight shining, drenching his face./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"What had someone once told him? Something he never forgot?/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emIf you begin to regret, you'll dull future decisions./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emThen I won't regret. I won't - I can't doubt myself./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"If he hesitated, Eren would die./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"span style="text-indent: 14.25pt;"So he didn't hesitate./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Levi wrapped his hands on the ODM gear, knuckles white but head straight. He activated them without a second thought, took off, shot through the canopy like an arrow. And he was soaring. Straight and true, the captain sailed through the air, leaves and branches and who-knew-what-else flinging into his face, catching in his clothes, twisting and tangling and knotting in his hair./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"He was spat out, rocketing into the open air, away from the stifling ceiling of the forest, in a different world to the abstract terror and confusion of the undergrowth. All around were trees bending, straining, cracking as titans forced their way past. There were cries from below; think screams and shrieks, calls for help, the long, rage-filled call of a corkscrewed up in clusters where the action was thickest, the air fogging where the action was the thickest./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emYou were getting upset over nothing,/em he told himself coldly. emYou were in that forest with the gear for about three fucking seconds and if you keep fucking thinking,/em Eren will dieem./em emMove!/em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Whirling around, he focused on a single head, brown tufts of hair moving steadily west. Levi took off after it, flat out and with more agility than he could ever move in the forest. Shades of green blurred under him. Sky zipped past. He closed the distance./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Twenty meters./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Ten./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Five./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Two./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Whipping his final blade out, he dropped onto the head, buried the sword hilt deep into the skull. Titan smoke exploded from the gash, a direct scalding geyser that caught him in the arm. Standing back, he wrenched it out sharply, balanced on the titan's head. It came out with a crack and he stumbled, the titan still moving at a million miles per hour under him. The blade was only the size of a kitchen knife. Levi dropped to his knees, gripped the knife tightly with one hand, wrapped his other around a fistful of titan hair./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emFucking disgusting./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The oily grease coated his fists, a blanket of dirt and oil and everything he hated. Levi gritted his teeth, wrapped the strand around his hand and jumped. Tightening his grip, dirt and dead skin flaked onto his bare hands. He tried not to think about it./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Using the momentum from his impromptu abseil, the captain swung down, boots braced against the scalp of the titan, prickly leaves cutting at the thick fabric, dulling the silver buckles on his straps as they scratched and tore. Hair fisted in one hand and short sword in the other, he aimed at the sweet spot./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Stabbed. Cut. Hacked. Sliced./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Carved two bloody notches deep, deep into the nape, a knife cutting through melted butter. The titan roared and fell to its knees. Levi hung on, boots braced against skin./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"He buried the knife hilt deep for a better purchase, only ten meters away from the titan shifter - who looked much better./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Eren Jaeger pulled himself up, hands clutching at trees and bark, leg now healed, arm now unbroken, skin now not seeping blood. He eyed the titan and the captain calmly but forcefully wiping his hands on a handkerchief he had pulled out of nowhere. 'I hope you didn't go through any trouble for me.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"His captain, perched on the forehead of an eighteen-meter titan, scowled at him. 'Not at all.'/p
p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 19px;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Those eyes focused as Levi neared, blurred, focused again. 'Mikasa…'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Levi stood over him, kicked him. 'No, just me. Unfortunately for you.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'Mikasa,' he croaked through parched lips. 'Is she alright?'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'Why wouldn't she be?' He scoffed. 'Oh. Was she saving you from your own mistakes? What did you do this time, brat? Is she bleeding out in the belly of a fucking titan for you?'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Eren waved a feeble hand, pushing words out like each one hurt. 'No, don't talk about my friends like that.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'I'll talk about your friends however I damn well want to,' he said. The titan-shifter was in no shape to shift and the battle was hardly started - but he would guard the boy and give him time to recover if that was what it took to get him back on the field. 'When will you be ready to go back on?'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The boy glared up at Levi, a sign of the old Eren coming back. 'Have you ever tried healing two broken ribs, an arm, an ankle and an infected leg, Captain? I've only been here for a few minutes. Give me another ten, then I should be ready.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'I'm too clean for some shitty infection.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'That makes no sense. I'll be back in titan form if you give me some room.' Eren hummed, fight filling back into his eyes. 'I can do that.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"'That's the least I expect from you, brat. Now get back to your beauty sleep. We need you.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Eren closed his eyes, slumped over again, focused on that almost a compliment? 'Behind you,' he muttered, falling asleep to the shape of Levi flying up to meet the titan in mid-air./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Shooting the hook into the side of the titan's neck, he wasted no time. An arm moved to cut him down, he swung, wrapped the hook around its neck, emptied the tension, ran, carving a bloody score up its arm with the blades, reaching the neck, bringing the twin swords down with a crunch on the weak spot. The titan crumbled and he flew into the trees, alighting on the low branches as the titan struck the ground, sagging against a tree with a trunk as thick as a person that snapped from the impact./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The sound was fucking earsplitting, but Levi kept his head straight, flung himself to safety, ran and jumped and fell across fallen limbs and branches, came to a stop in Eren's tree. Eren twitched an arm, the only indication that he'd heard the collision./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Titans. Two more, approaching from the east. Lumbering footsteps shook the forest like earthquakes, pushing aside trees, trampling undergrowth, flattening anything in their lopsided path. Levi shot Eren a last glare. emDon't you fucking dare get yourself fucking killed/em./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"He swung through the forest, meeting the threat 100 meters away head on./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Literally./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The first titan, a nine-meter, didn't get to react as Levi launched a hook into its nose, slamming boots on its cheek, looking into its eyes. 'Hey, ugly,' he whispered into its ear. The titan lifted a clumsy hand to swat him. Levi pulled the hook out of the titan flesh and dropped, shooting to the second titan with a burst of ODM just as the hand connected with full force. The titan fell to its knees./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The second titan, a fucking emeighteen-meter/em - the biggest he'd seen all Expedition - didn't react to his fallen comrade, only kept running away at full speed, nimbler than any titan had the right to be. It's shaggy dark head broke the surface of the trees, poking above the canopy and into the sunlight. Levi wondered how it could even see where it was going with half its shitty forehead in the open air. It was fast, that was guaranteed, but not as fast as a 5'3 captain of the Survey Corps heavily decked with grappling hooks, gear and blades. Levi swung through the trees, launching and reeling and launching and reeling./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"em It's going after Eren./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"There was a rumble and a mushroom cloud of dust as the fallen titan who he had left behind him got to its feet, facing away from him. It would come after them, and if Eren was cornered by two titans in the state he was in, he'd stand no chance. Levi was ten meters away from it. Fifteen. With a curse, pulled a blade from the sheath - his only spare - and threw it. He hit the nape straight on. The titan crashed, dust flying up./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Gritting his teeth, Levi increased his speed, closing the distance between him slowly. Too slowly. Eren was only a fifty meters ahead. The ODM gear was too fast for the trees - he'd collide with a tree and be killed instantly at this speed./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emFucking THINK, Levi!/em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The trees were too thick for ODM gas. The dappled sunlight shone through thick clumps of leaves, splotches and blots of yellows, golds, greens like a painter's dish. The sunlight. The beautiful sunlight./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emSunlight,/em he thought wistfully. emI miss the sunlight/em./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"What the fuck was wrong with him? He had to focus. He had to go faster. Faster, or Eren was emdead/em. He would never make it -/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Unless -/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Unless he could get to open air. To emsunlight/em. If he took down the titan from above the forest, instead of the cluttered undergrowth, he could use his gear and move much faster, clearing the distance and reaching Eren more efficiently than he ever could on the ground. But he would need to go straight up. That would be the fastest path and if he used his momentum, he could aim for a 90 degree angle straight up - or close enough. These thoughts flashed through his head in less than a second./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Thirty meters left./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Before he could change his mind, he aimed the hook not forwards, but to the sides, both wires shooting to a tree to his left and right. The momentum jerked him to a stop, the impact knocking his breath out of his chest. He was tugged back violently, head slammed back, body instantly limp to absorb impact./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The titan vanished in the forest, the second delay enough for it to dart out of sight./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Just as he was about to forget the plan, release the hooks and follow the titan, the cords caught him and he buckled under the tension of strong cables. There was a split second to close his eyes, mouth and clamp a hand to the retract trigger. And then he was soaring through the green. This wasn't flying. This was getting shot through a canon, a vicious G-force pulling at hair, tearing at skin, clawing at clothes./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"There were fucking thorns. Thorns in these fucking trees. Stupid fucking thorns that hacked and chopped at him, leaves that clung to his hair, ripping out strands, shredding skin, branches like titans that scratched, bit, made him bleed. And all he could do was keep going, keep his hands close, his head closer, body straight like an arrow, keep moving, always moving, because if he didn't make it, if he fell -/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"If he fell, Eren was emdead./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"So he kept going, limbs locked in, eyes screwed shut and head pressed to his chest. Was he even going straight? God knew. Was he going sideways, was he off track, wrong way, too late, about to let yet another one of his fucking squad emdie?/em Uncharacteristic panic clouded his mind./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Because didn't his squad emdie/em for Eren? Wouldn't he let them down if he died too? He'd gone through so much fucking pain for this brat, was the brat going to get himself killed? Was he even going up? Was he even going straight? And even if he wasn't, did he have any choice? He couldn't stop moving if he wanted to - couldn't stop the sticks, the leaves, the thorns, the knives./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"And then he started falling./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Falling down./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"His eyes flew open at the sudden movement, clear blue sky filling his vision. The clear blue sky, sunlight shining, drenching his face./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"What had someone once told him? Something he never forgot?/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emIf you begin to regret, you'll dull future decisions./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emThen I won't regret. I won't - I can't doubt myself./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"If he hesitated, Eren would die./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"span style="text-indent: 14.25pt;"So he didn't hesitate./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Levi wrapped his hands on the ODM gear, knuckles white but head straight. He activated them without a second thought, took off, shot through the canopy like an arrow. And he was soaring. Straight and true, the captain sailed through the air, leaves and branches and who-knew-what-else flinging into his face, catching in his clothes, twisting and tangling and knotting in his hair./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"He was spat out, rocketing into the open air, away from the stifling ceiling of the forest, in a different world to the abstract terror and confusion of the undergrowth. All around were trees bending, straining, cracking as titans forced their way past. There were cries from below; think screams and shrieks, calls for help, the long, rage-filled call of a corkscrewed up in clusters where the action was thickest, the air fogging where the action was the thickest./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emYou were getting upset over nothing,/em he told himself coldly. emYou were in that forest with the gear for about three fucking seconds and if you keep fucking thinking,/em Eren will dieem./em emMove!/em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Whirling around, he focused on a single head, brown tufts of hair moving steadily west. Levi took off after it, flat out and with more agility than he could ever move in the forest. Shades of green blurred under him. Sky zipped past. He closed the distance./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Twenty meters./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Ten./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Five./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Two./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Whipping his final blade out, he dropped onto the head, buried the sword hilt deep into the skull. Titan smoke exploded from the gash, a direct scalding geyser that caught him in the arm. Standing back, he wrenched it out sharply, balanced on the titan's head. It came out with a crack and he stumbled, the titan still moving at a million miles per hour under him. The blade was only the size of a kitchen knife. Levi dropped to his knees, gripped the knife tightly with one hand, wrapped his other around a fistful of titan hair./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"emFucking disgusting./em/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"The oily grease coated his fists, a blanket of dirt and oil and everything he hated. Levi gritted his teeth, wrapped the strand around his hand and jumped. Tightening his grip, dirt and dead skin flaked onto his bare hands. He tried not to think about it./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Using the momentum from his impromptu abseil, the captain swung down, boots braced against the scalp of the titan, prickly leaves cutting at the thick fabric, dulling the silver buckles on his straps as they scratched and tore. Hair fisted in one hand and short sword in the other, he aimed at the sweet spot./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Stabbed. Cut. Hacked. Sliced./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Carved two bloody notches deep, deep into the nape, a knife cutting through melted butter. The titan roared and fell to its knees. Levi hung on, boots braced against skin./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"He buried the knife hilt deep for a better purchase, only ten meters away from the titan shifter - who looked much better./p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"Eren Jaeger pulled himself up, hands clutching at trees and bark, leg now healed, arm now unbroken, skin now not seeping blood. He eyed the titan and the captain calmly but forcefully wiping his hands on a handkerchief he had pulled out of nowhere. 'I hope you didn't go through any trouble for me.'/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 14.25pt; text-align: justify;"His captain, perched on the forehead of an eighteen-meter titan, scowled at him. 'Not at all.'/p
p style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 19px;" /p